Eternal
by Rikku3198
Summary: Jeb introduces this new girl, Kay, into the flock. She doesn't talk much, keeps herself hidden mostly, but soon the flock realizes there's more to her than what it seems. And there's these other two kids too that they keep seeing at weird places. Oh yeah and the erasers are back, and they burned down their house, so the flock is back on the run, only this time the stakes are higher
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Guys. I know that some of you have been wondering what happened to my stories and why they suddenly disappeared. Someone had deleted all of my stories, and I no longer have access to the files, therefore I have no way to re-post them. I've decided to start writing again, after having not written because I was too upset with having all of my stories deleted. So please give me a second chance guys, please. Thanks for reading this and I hope you understand. Now, on to the story. I intend to make this my best one yet, combining all of my sotires together to make one, awesome epic story.**

**Thanks Swahili, for helping to inspire me for this story.**

**MAX'S POV:**

I took a sip of soda, as I listened to Jeb talk. Honestly it wasn't really that interesting, so I was bored out of my mind as he babbled on.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet Kay, your new flock member. Come on in Kay."

I spit out my soda all over Fang and Iggy, who had the luck of sitting right in front of me.

Fang glared at me and wiped it off, then smirked and wiped it on Iggy.

"Hey I can feel that you know." He complained, trying to wipe it off.

I would've laughed if I wasn't still half in shock from Jeb's announcement.

In walked a girl, looking tense and unsure of herself, her eyes flickering to each one of us, then turning to Jeb and looking slightly irritated.

She was pretty; you had to give her that. She was tall and skinny, like the rest of us, and she stood up straight. Her hair was burgundy, falling in soft waves to just below her shoulders. Her bangs swept just above soft green eyes. She had a heart shaped face and full red lips, along with a tan complexion.

She stood next to Jeb, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but here. There was an awkward silence until Jeb broke it by clearing his throat.

"Like I said earlier, Kay is going to be your new flock member."

Jeb looked at me as he said this, probably wanting me to introduce ourselves. I stood up and held out my hand, smiling.

"Hi. I'm Maximum, but you can call me Max. This is Fang, Iggy, Nudge, The Gasman, and Angel. Welcome to the flock."

I tried to sound welcoming, but I don't think I did a very good job of it because she just looked at my hand as if it were poison or something.

Eventually she took it, slowly and hesitantly. "I'm Kay." She said softly, shyly.

"Now that you guys have introduced yourselves I must be going. I have some files to work on." Jeb nodded and left with that, leaving us standing around awkwardly.

"You look tired." I said, trying to break the ice.

She just shrugged, avoiding eye contact, mostly looking at the floor.

"Are you hungry or something?" Fang asked, breaking his silence.

Kay shook her head, still looking at the floor.

"Do you have wings?" Nudge asked, one of the shortest questions she'd ever asked.

Kay nodded, then spread them slowly.

They were beautiful. They were reddish brown with streaks and spots of black randomly placed in them.

"They're pretty." Angel said. "Mine are just white."

She beamed at Kay, who probably didn't see it because she was still staring at the floor.

"Is the floor that interesting?" Gazzy asked, probably wondering why she didn't look up.

"No…. I'm just nervous." Her voice was still soft, but had that kind of tone that you leaned in to hear.

"So she can talk. That's good. We don't need a mute and blind person in the group." Iggy stood up and stretched, then smiled at Kay.

Kay raised her head, half a smile on her face.

"You can go find a place to sleep if you want." I said, still curious about Kay and why she didn't talk that much.

"Thanks." She said, then left, most likely to do what I just said.

As soon as she was gone, Iggy asked the question I'd been waiting for him to say.

"Is she cute, pretty, hot, or what?"

I rolled my eyes and sat back down on the couch, grabbed my soda, and took another swallow.

Nudge described Kay, and I could practically see the drool coming out of his mouth.

"Let's watch a movie." Gazzy suggested. "Like Super 8 or something."

Everyone agreed that it was okay, and Iggy said he didn't care because he couldn't see it anyways.

**About 2 hours later…..**

**KAY'S POV:**

I heard the movie that Max and the others were watching finish and decided to get up.

I tucked some of my hair behind my ear and smiled slightly, remembering Iggy saying that they didn't need a mute and blind people in the flock, which basically meant he was blind.

I'd tried to sleep, but it didn't work very well because I was still tensed and nervous about the "flock" as Max put it.

I wasn't sure they'd accept me, even though they seemed to be nice people, I could still sense Max's distrust underneath her welcoming appearance.

I entered the room that I had met everyone in and saw everyone still there.

"Hi Kay. Did you sleep okay?" Angel asked, having somehow sensed I was in the room before the others.

I shrugged, and nodded once. I didn't like talking because of my power- at least one of them.

Max nodded, acknowledging that I was there.

Gazzy waved at me and smiled, Nudge doing the same thing, only a little bit more enthusiastically.

Fang dipped his head to me, and Iggy grinned.

"Why don't you talk that much? You're like Fang. He doesn't talk that much, and I don't think I'd be able to talk so little because then people wouldn't know like what you're thinking or anything except Angel-"

Max clamped her hand over Nudge's mouth, probably to prevent her from revealing all of the flock's secret. Her annoyance was obvious.

"I just don't like to." I answered her question, speaking quietly.

"Why not?" Max asked, narrowing her eyes.

I shrugged and felt the bitter taste of Max's distrust wash over me.

"Because I can't control when my power activates in it."

That was one of the longest sentences I'd said while I was here, and ever sense I found out I had the ability to make people do whatever I want, whenever I want, with just my voice.

"What power?" Max asked flatly.

"I can make people do whatever I want by asking or telling them."

I'd never revealed this much about myself to anyone.

So far I wasn't doing too good of a job at trying to fit in.

Max opened her mouth, probably to ask another question, when the front door literally flew off the hinges and all the way to the other end of the hallway.

"Come here, little birdies. Come out and play."

**I know it's a short chapter, but I promise to post longer ones if you guys like this story concept. Please tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, so on and so forth. Any constructive criticism is accepted, even welcomed. Should I continue with my story concept, or should I try a different one? Thanks for reading guys! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to update, and this chapter's a little bit different. It still involves this story, of course, but it doesn't take place with the flock or anything at first. I know I left you guys on a cliffhanger for them, but don't worry, I most likely will change the story back to Kay's POV near the end, so yes, we'll find out what will happen to them in this chapter, possibly.**

**Thanks to:**

**soparanokittythegreat: Thanks for the advice! I'll try to do that, though no promises that I keep up with that. That was very good advice, by the way. Hey, if you ever find out who stole your flash drives, tell me and I'll hunt them down fro you ;). Good idea to keep back ups like that. I should probably do that too.**

**Geana: Thanks! I try my best, though I personally don't think my writing is all that good.**

**SAFFIRA'S POV:**

I ran as fast as I could, my black, red and green hair whipping around my face.

I didn't care about the branches whipping at my body, or the fact that my boots were getting ripped by thorns.

All that mattered was getting to the clearing first, and fast.

I burst into the clearing and looked around, the feeling of triumph rising as I saw no one.

The bushes rustled, and I turned around to see what it was, only to be tackled from behind.

"Too slow again, Saffira. I have you now."

A voice whispered in my ear as the arms tightened around my waist.

At first I panicked, then rolled over and tried to smush the person underneath me.

"Ow." He muttered, but didn't loosen his grip around my waist.

"Not getting away that easy." He whispered in my ear, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

By then I had come to my senses and realized who it was, and I was content just to lay there.

"Okay, but don't come crying when you start to run out of air." I replied calmly, noticing how his breath was starting to run out.

"Haha, very funny. Alright, due to my will to live, I'll let you go."

And then he let go of my waist and I rolled off of him and jumped up, dusting off my pink and purple jacket.

The boy was laying on the ground still, his hands lying across his stomach as he grinned up at me, golden eyes sparkling.

"Beat you again, Saffira." He joked, then pushed himself up and off the ground, his shaggy brown hair covering one of his eyes as he stood up.

"Yeah whatever. I told you, I'm not a runner." I brushed off his jest and rolled my eyes, smiling despite myself.

Chase, the boy, shrugged and walked over to me, grinning.

"Yeah, but you sure can hit and throw a ball. I still remember that time you gave me a black eye that was an "accident.""

"It was!" I protested. "I didn't see you there and you walked right in front of my pitch. _After_ it had left my hand."

"Suuure. Come on, let's start heading back home. It's getting dark." Chase gestured up at the sky, and sure enough you couldn't see the sun any more.

"What's the matter Chase? Afraid of the dark?" I teased, but started heading in the direction of our neighborhood anyways.

Chase snorted and caught up to me easily.

Unlike me, he could run, really, really fast.

"No, I just don't want to get eaten alive, or dead for that matter. Race you back to your house."

I glared at him, knowing he was setting me up to lose again.

"We just ran." I complained, honestly tired of running.

"But fine." I said, seeing his disappointed face.

"Good! I'll go easy one you. On three. One… two… three!" He shouted and took off.

I tried to take off, but I ended up tripping over a root and falling on my face.

"Wonderful." I groaned and stood up, almost falling back down again as a sudden pain shot through my leg.

I let out a small cry of pain and sunk back down to the ground.

"There's no way I'm going to win this race. Chase could probably beat me going the speed of a snail." I muttered, closing my green eyes and trying to ignore the pain in my leg that was mostly around my knee.

"Well what have we here? A little girl lost in the woods and can't find her way home?"

A voice said above me and I looked up, peeking out from behind my lids.

A wolfish man stood in front of me, his eyes yellow, and he seemed to have a snout with canine teeth in a gross grin.

My alarms went off in my head, sending me into and almost panic attack.

"What do you want?" I spat, having some street smarts, and a small knowledge of karate. Like, how to kick, maybe.

"Feisty, eh? Good, you have a more chance of surviving that way."

And then he transformed or something and I couldn't help but let out a scream that didn't last long as he closed his fist around my neck, then put some sort of cloth over my mouth and nose.

I took one whiff of it by accident and I immediately fell into unconsciousness.

The last thing I heard was the wolf man saying something about getting the other one.

I wasn't awake long enough to figure out that they meant Chase.

**KAY'S POV:**

My body knew what to do before my mind did.

Immediately I got into a fighting stance, a bit shaky.

To say that I hated erasers would be a major understatement, but it was only fair considering what they'd done to me.

"Everyone, find a way to get out. Windows, doors, anything. We need to get out of here now before they've circled us."

Max ordered, sounding calm despite the situation we were in. She was the kind of person I wish I could be.

Gazzy looked out the window, going slightly pale. "Too late, Max."

Max didn't seem fazed, infact; she seemed to get more determined.

"Alright. We're just going to have to fight our way out."

Everyone nodded, looking like they were ready to kick some eraser butt.

I, on the other hand, probably looked like a fish out of water, standing there almost awkwardly.

"You can't escape, Maximum. The entire house is circled. There's no way out."

An eraser came inside, smiling evilly. He held something in his hand, but I couldn't tell what it was.

Just seeing the eraser made me go pale, but I pushed through it as best as I could.

"Hey Kay?" Angel asked, looking at the eraser and concentrating real hard, her eyebrows knitted together.

"Um, yeah?" I asked, trying to control the fear in my voice.

"You said you can control people by talking to them, right?"

"Yes." I said, getting what she was talking about.

I braced myself then stood up straight, closing my eyes briefly as I thought of a happy place.

"Leave. You have no business here. Gather everything and leave without a word or action."

My voice came out smooth, confident, and I almost convinced myself that I had to leave.

For a moment it seemed to work. The eraser swayed, a dreamy look on his face, and he turned around, as if going to go out the door.

Max and the others looked at me, not daring to say anything as they realized what was going on.

And then they seemed to zone out, like the eraser, getting a dreamy, far away look in their eyes, like they had gone off to lala land.

Then the eraser snarled and turned back around, bearing down on me.

"Nice try, little twerp, but not good enough. I'm not going anywhere without killing all of you."

I shivered, almost cowering against the floor as the eraser snarled, his teeth bared and saliva dripping from his jaws.

And then Max came to my rescue, kicking the eraser in the back of the head, making him drop like a rock.

Her face was steeled in determination, and I knew that she would do anything to protect the flock, and right now that meant getting them out of the house.

"Let's go, now." And everyone nodded, getting ready to run, kick-butt, and fly.

Determination, and maybe a little bit of fear coursed through everyone, and I could feel it running strongly.

Heck, it might have even made me feel the same way if my brain wasn't screaming at me that there were several snarling blood thirsty erasers outside.

Max checked to make sure that everyone was fit enough to run, then took off, running out the door, everyone following close behind.

I decided that unless I wished to die a slow, painful death, I should follow them.

As soon as I was outside, it took every ounce of my courage not to curl up in a fetal position and rock myself back and forth against the wall.

More than several dozen erasers were waiting outside, and they pounced on us as we tried to take off.

Max took out several, practically paralyzing some with her death glare.

Fang was doing well, despite bleeding from a split lip.

Iggy was doing pretty good too, though I wasn't sure how because he was blind.

Then I noticed he kept throwing little bombs or something at them, and I understood.

Gazzy was right along side Iggy, punching, kicking, and occasionally throwing out bombs.

Nudge was taking out quite a few herself, shrieking as and eraser ripped her jeans.

"Those were brand new designer jeans!" She yelled and took out that eraser with vengeance,

I made a mental note to never, ever do anything to Nudge's clothes besides compliment them.

I realized I was still standing by the door, just watching everyone fight.

I wanted to go out there and help them, but I couldn't. My legs just wouldn't move.

"Come on." I told myself, trying to pump myself up and wash away the absolute terror on my face.

"What's the matter, Kay? Still to chicken to defend yourself and your family?" An eraser snarled behind me, deathly close. The words it said made my stomach and heart drop, and memories flooded my mind, my face twisting in pain of them.

While I was sucked into the memories I dimly heard someone yell "BOMB!"

And then the house was absorbed in flames, and I was still too close to it.

"Up and away!" Max yelled, the noticed me and clenched her jaw.

I could feel Max's anger and desperation as she ran back to me and grabbed my arm, trying to get me away from the house.

"We need to go, Kay. NOW!" She yelled, dragging me along.

I was still frozen, but Max yelling in my face broke me out of the trance and I realized how much we needed to get away.

"I-I can't fly!" I said desperately, trying to pull my arm away from Max's iron grip.

"What do you mean you can't fly? And you just told me this now! Why couldn't you have told me earlier?" She yelled, her face getting red in anger.

I flinched and closed my eyes as I heard Max mutter some words that were not very nice to say the least.

"IGGY!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, and I opened my eyes halfway, feeling like a useless pain in the butt who couldn't do anything.

"Carry her." She said, then took off.

Iggy didn't complain or argue, but swept me up in his arms surprisingly well for a blind guy and took off flying behind Max.

Iggy didn't show any emotion on his face, but I could feel the concern, slight anger, and a bit of excitement, though I didn't know why the heck he would be feeling excitement.

"We need to get away from the bomb as fast as we can. Judging by the size of it, the shockwave could reach us even now, as high as we are." He said matter-of-factly, though his voice seemed eager.

I opened my eyes fully and took a peek down, just to see how far up we were, and I wished I hadn't.

I had a fear of heights, or more accurate was a fear of falling from high places.

So as you can imagine, I didn't feel too good at all after I had looked down and let out a small groan.

"What's wrong with you?" Iggy asked, though he didn't look at me when I said it. I guess he didn't have to because he was blind.

"We're really high up." I muttered, clutching on to Iggy as much as I could.

He must have noticed my death grip. "So?" He asked, getting a smirk on his face.

"I don't like high places." I said quietly, knowing that he was about to laugh. I didn't blame him.

"A bird kid afraid of heights?" He laughed which shook his body and made me cling on tighter.

"Now that's just too funny." He grinned and continued laughing, and everyone gave him odd looks to see why he was laughing, except Angel, who seemed to know what was going on.

"Iggy, our house just blew up, and you're laughing like crazy. It's official, the pyro has gone insane." Fang said with a smirk.

Everyone got a small chuckled out of that as Iggy scowled.

I was glad he was done laughing, because then he wasn't shaking any more, and I felt slightly less like I was going to fall to my death.

"So why are you carrying Kay, Ig?" Gazzy asked, nodding to me.

"She can't fly." Max said, with the anger she had earlier still a bit in her voice.

"Well that's okay though, right? I mean we can teach her to fly and then she'll be fine and stuff and something like that won't have to ever happen again and she'll be able to fly with us and…" Nudge kept babbling on, like she didn't have a care in the world.

"Sure Nudge, we'll just push her off a roof and see if she can save herself in time." Iggy said, though he was joking, I still felt my stomach drop.

I was keeping quiet this entire time, mostly because I thought if I opened my mouth I might lose my lunch, and I felt horrible about what happened earlier.

"So where are we going? To your mom's house, or are we going to find a cave or some trees?" Angel asked. I hadn't really heard Angel talk that much, which kind of surprised me.

"Angel, sweetie, my mom lives in Arizona. We're in California. We're going to have to find some place to rest tonight, and maybe we'll go tomorrow." Max said, and I could feel her joy at having a mom.

"Okay." Angel said, smiling.

We flew for a few more hours, the flock talking now and then, but mostly flying in silence with exhaustion.

When we landed at a random cave Iggy set me down, letting out a relieved breath.

"You're heavier then you look, you know that? I thought I might have dropped you about halfway through." He chuckled, knowing about my fear and smiled, then plopped down against the side of a cave.

I glared at him, knowing he couldn't see it, and sat down near the entrance of the cave and looked at the landscape. We were somewhere in Colorado, from what I could tell.

"I'll take first watch." Max announced, then came over and sat down in the middle of the entrance to the cave.

I looked at her for a second, trying to figure out her emotions.

Max looked over to me and I looked down, and she seemed to soften.

"I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier, Kay. I was… scared and I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I wasn't really mad at you, I was mad at the dumb school and the rotten luck we seem to have." She flashed an apologetic smile at me, and I could feel she meant it, and it took a lot for her to say she was sorry.

I shrugged. "It's okay. I can understand how you felt. I wasn't really much help back there, and I haven't really been entirely open with you guys. Besides the ability to control people with my voice, I can sense emotions." I figured if we were going to start being friends, I might as well tell her that I could feel all of her emotions.

Max narrowed her eyes, but shrugged in the end. "Yeah well, I haven't really been all that trusting to you. Let's start over." She stuck out her hand and smiled at me, welcomingly, like the first time we meant.

But this time I didn't hesitate to take it.

"Hi, I'm Maximum Ride, but you can call me Max."

"My name's Kay. Nice to meet you, Max."

Max grinned and said, "Welcome to flock Kay. Nice to have ya."

We smiled at the same time and shook hands, then Max gestured to back inside the cave. "You go ahead and sleep. I've got first watch."

I nodded and flashed a quick smile before going further back inside the cave, sitting down against the wall somewhat next to Iggy, which was pretty much the only open space.

It felt good to be accepted, and to know that Max did trust me. Maybe I could be accepted then, and not rejected.

But still, even though I had told her about my power to feel emotions, and my ability to control people with my voice, I hadn't told her about my fear of heights, or the reason I was so deathly afraid of erasers.

For then, I thought it was good enough, and it was.

I fell asleep that night feeling safer than I'd ever felt in a long, long time.

**So, what did you guys think? Yay or nay? Hope it was good enough for you guys. I made up for the slow update with a long chapter. Or at least it seemed long when I was typing it. It probably isn't very long at all xD. Please R&R!**

**~CaTaStRoPhIcEnTiTy (Rikku3198)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys :). I was bored, so I randomly decided to take a WHAT MAXIMUM RIDE CHARACTER ARE YOU? quiz thingy, and I got Max and Iggy. Took it twice. So I'm a sarcastic person that likes to blow things up! I just got back from a Doubles Tennis Tournament, and I swore I was about to dies of heatstroke. I started getting this head ache, and I felt like I was about to throw up, plus I was weraring absolutely no sunscreen, and being out in the direct sunlight for more than four hours will most likely cause me to get a sunburn. If I don't get sunburn, I'd probably think I'm like, superman or something. Haha, anyway, the real reason you came. Here's the third chapter. I had a lot of muse while writing this, so sorry if it gets carried away. And this chapter will be alternating between Saffira and Kay's POV. And we also get a special POV!**

**Thanks to:**

**Shannon: Your request has been fulfilled. At first, I was like, suspense? Oh, wait, that whole-Saffira-gets-kidnapped-thingy. I made a mental note to pay more attention to what I write after that.**

**Winniethewubbzy: Thanks~ I hope you shall continue to love this story. Nice username, by the way. It's very fun to say ^^.**

**SAFFIRA'S POV:**

I groaned and rolled over, feeling more beat up then I'd ever felt in my entire life.

At least I tried to roll over; instead, I just hit metal bars and injured myself further.

"Ow." I muttered, holding my wrist for a second as I opened my eyes and took a look around.

I didn't recognize this place, and I sat up as fast as I could, almost knocking myself back out again as I hit my head on the roof or whatever I was in.

I took a quick scan around the room, trying to find some clue as to where I was, but to no luck.

The only thing I saw in this room was air-tight security and an empty… dog crate next to me.

Then the memories of last night came flooding back and I wanted curl up in a ball and rock back and forth.

"Why did this happen to me? And what about Chase? Did he get out alright?"

I knew I was talking to myself, asking questions into the empty air, but at that moment I didn't really care.

But my question about Chase was answered as they brought him in, bruised up and beaten, his golden eyes closed.

I wanted to scream in anger, but I just kept quiet, watching as they put him in the crate next to mine and one of his wings fell open.

Wait, wings? Chase never had wings as far as I knew, and I knew 'cause I'd seen his back before, which was smooth and had absolutely no wings on it.

"Sleep tight. You'll need your energy for later, when we'll have even harder tests."

The wolf man, who was the same one as the night before, cackled and came over to my cage.

"Why hello pretty girly. Finally awake, eh? Good, because now we can start your tests. Hopefully you'll be able to hold up longer than that wimp over there."

I wanted to spit at him in disgust as he talked to me, his yellow eyes glowing and his canine teeth showing.

"Get away from me." I tried to sound threatening, but it didn't work as the wolf man threw back his head and laughed, then unlocked my cage and grabbed my arm.

I was going to fight back, but somehow I knew if I made a single move, he'd have claws out and be ripping me to shreds in no time, so I didn't do anything but hang there limply, dangling from his hand.

"Good girl. That little wimp tried to fight back. Didn't go too well for him, you see, he got some nasty claw marks across his chest. Not enough to kill him. They won't let me do that yet." And he grinned and carried me out of the room, straight into another room.

There were people in white coats all around in this room, and there was one of those tables they strap you to, laying open, with the smell of blood and chemicals in the air.

"Strap her to the table. It's important that we start this as soon as possible while she's still weak."

I had no idea what they were talking about, and I didn't want to stay and find out, so I stomped on the wolf man's foot as hard as I could, which was pretty darn hard.

He let out a howl, then snarled and transformed again, his claws digging into my arms.

He looked ready to bite my face off, but one of the scientists spoke up.

"Do not do any more damage to the subject. The last one barely made it through the surgery."

He growled and snapped the air by my head, then pushed me to the table thing and pinned me down on it, strapping me in before I could get another kick at him.

"Begin the procedure. Make sure all her vitals are good, and then hand me the injection."

I felt myself pale at that. I absolutely hated needles, and the sight of them made me feel nauseous.

By the way they were talking, it sounded like I was going to get a whole lot of needles heading my way, and there wasn't anything I could do about it.

I felt something burning on my arm, and I wanted to scream. Whether in terror or pain, I wasn't sure.

From then on it didn't get any better then that. It got a whole lot worse in less than sixty seconds.

**Kay's POV:**

I woke up in a cave, with four other bird kids sprawled out across the floor of it in various positions.

It was slightly chilly, and we had no food or warmth but each other, yet I'd never felt more at home.

I sat there for a few minuets, reflecting on yesterday, and how quickly it had happened.

Then I decided to get up, which was kind of hard because Nudge was lying across my legs.

I smiled at her snoring softly and tried to gently shift her off my legs.

That wasn't work too well, so I tried gently pushing her off with my hands, which didn't work too well either.

So, eventually, I decided to just shove her off after my legs were losing circulation.

That worked, and she only stirred slightly, then went back to snoring and drooling.

Max was standing near the entrance of the cave, looking devious, but also had a kind of motherly look on her face.

Even without my power, I could tell she loved these guys to death.

"Hey Max." I whispered and I walked up to her, not wanting to wake anyone up.

She nodded to me and smiled. "They look so peaceful, don't they?" She nodded to the flock, and I agreed.

"Time to wake them up though." She added, looking like she was about to have the time of her life.

Then she walked over to the edge of their little sleeping group and yelled so loud, it scared me.

"TIME TO GET UP PEOPLE! LET'S MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! WE'VE GOT A BIG DAY AHEAD OF OURSELVES AND THERE'S NO TIME TO WASTE! GET OFF YOUR LAZY BUTTS AND LET'S GO!"

I now understood the smirk that she had on her face before she walked over there.

If I were still sleeping, I probably would've jumped up so high and then started either laughing or crying from shock.

But apparently they were used to it, because they all just groaned and mumbled something before getting up.

I almost admired them for that, and I also wondered how the heck their eardrums weren't busted yet.

"Geez Max, you get louder and louder each day. You never know, because of you I might actually be blind _and_ deaf." Iggy stood up and stretched, looking in Max's general direction.

She just glared at him, though she was smiling.

"Why thank you, Iggy. It's always been my dream to make someone go deaf with my voice." Max chirped, watching everyone else get up.

I smiled and looked over the edge of the cliff, wishing that I hadn't done it.

"Ready to learn how to fly?"

I jumped up and whirled around, not expecting Fang to be there.

He just moved so silently, like a ghost or something.

I didn't really know how to respond, so I just said the first thing that popped into my head.

"I don't really want to fall to my death, thank you very much."

Fang smirked and crossed his arms. "It's really easy. You just jump and spread your wings."

I wanted to know why the heck he just suddenly became so talkative all of a sudden and why he was so interesting in teaching me how to fly.

Before I could ask him those questions, he jumped of the cliff and demonstrated what he meant.

It really did look simple, but I wasn't really ready to throw myself off a cliff any time soon.

And then someone came up from behind me and pushed me off the cliff when I wasn't looking.

My only thought was: _Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!_

I was sure I was falling straight to my death, hurtling to the ground so fast I didn't think it was possible.

And then I did what came natural and spread my wings.

**SAFFIRA'S POV:**

Several hours of pain and screaming later I realized I was still alive, and that somehow I hadn't died in the process.

But from the black spots swarming around my vision, I wasn't so sure I'd made it out of the shark infested water yet.

"Take her to the crates again for a two minuet break. Then bring her to the testing room."

All I understood was _crates_ and _testing_ room. I was too wiped out to even process what they had said.

The wolf man picked me up and growled at me, letting me know that he didn't think I was a "good girl" anymore.

"You're lucky they're letting you have a break. They usually aren't so nice."

_They're being nice? They've kept me awake and screaming with pain for several hours, and they're letting me have two minuets break. That's being nice?_

I didn't bother replying as some of the black spots started to swim away, clearing my vision again.

The wolf man literally tossed me inside the cage and smirked at me before shutting the door.

I groaned at looked down at the floor of the cage, which was surprisingly shiny enough to see my own reflection in it.

I looked pretty much the same, maybe taller and a bit skinnier, but other than that I still had my black, green, and red hair, along with my darker green eyes.

And then I gently shrugged, wincing as my new wings unfurled.

It hurt, majorly, to even move, but just looking at myself I was kind of awestruck, and scared at the same time, fear mostly over-ruling the awestruck-ness.

My wings were just like my hair, with the base color of black, but they had red and green streaks in them as random spots, a slight outline of brown and very tiny and few white spots mixed in.

"Time's up, girly. Ready for your play date?" The wolf man grinned at me, and it took every ounce of my strength to not freak out.

"Sure, wolf man, but I don't play nicely." I spat, narrowing my eyes and straightening up as much as I could in my crate.

Hey, if I was going to die, then I was going to die with dignity, and hopefully more sarcastic comments.

And bacon. Bacon was good. You can never eat enough bacon.

Okay, aside from that random thought about bacon (which really is delicious, and one of the best thing we humans have ever invented) I was serious about not going down without a fight.

The wolf man just chuckled and unlocked my cage, then grabbed my arm, in the same spot he had last time, and I tried not to wince in pain.

"Trust me, girly, we don't play nice either."

And he brought me to a run with so many electrical wires, and treadmills, I thought I was going to pass out right then and there.

I had never really been much of the athletic type, and to me, this room looked like torture.

Mostly I just plopped myself down on the couch and grabbed some chips or something like that, and there you have my Friday nights. That is, it you add in watching Twilight just to make fun of how crappy the movie is and saying, "Hey! Look at the trees!" every single time Bella and Edward kissed, or anyone else for that matter.

Something told I wouldn't be doing that any time soon.

I didn't resist them hooking me up to the machines because I still felt too weak.

Besides, if I were to fight back, I'd probably end up injuring myself as well as destroying some of the machines while ending up flat on the floor in pain in less then ten seconds flat.

Hey, that actually didn't sound too bad, if you take out the parts with me in pain.

And then, because I was off distracted to my own thoughts, which was never really a good thing, I got zapped with electricity so strong, it made my teeth buzz.

I immediately jumped up and glared at all the people in white coats around me. You know what, just to make this easier; I was going to start calling them whitecoats. Real original, huh?

Wolf man was stuck with his however. It fit him, and I didn't really care if that was also the name of some hairy guy from and old corny movie.

They zapped me again and I gritted my teeth in pain, which only caused more because they were still buzzing.

"Run." Wolf man said, ever so descriptive with his words.

At first I was resistant, then after about three more shocks I started to comply and go at a nice, leisurely stroll.

Why start things off huffing and panting when you can gradually work yourself up? Or better yet, not run at all?

But they kept zapping me, and I gave in, running as fast as I could, and I noticed that it was, like, a million times faster then before I had wings.

The only problem was sadistic people with a horrible fashion sense trying to see how many ways they could hurt me before I was killed.

**KAY'S POV:**

After my well, thought-out-thought of screaming in sheer terror and snapping my wings open so fast they yanked my upward painfully; I realized I was still alive.

My first thought was celebration. Yay, the mutant bird kids get to live another day! Whoopee! If you bring the balloons, I'll bring the streamers!

My second thought was that I was still falling, very slowly though, and I needed to figure out how to control my wings.

After I figured out that second thought, my third one was that I was going to personally murder whoever pushed me off the _cliff_.

I mean, seriously. Who pushes people off of cliffs? If you know someone tell me, so we can put them in the mental institute.

Once I got back up there, everyone was grinning like an idiot, except Fang, who was only smirking.

I was starting to wonder if Fang ever actually _smiled_, not smirked.

"Well, that was fun, after the feeling of immediate death. Now, who wants to experience that feeling next?" I said cheerfully, though my eyes screamed bloody murder.

Almost at once, everyone said who the culprit was. So much for family protection.

"It was Iggy." They all chimed, expect Iggy, who was trying not to laugh.

At least he was before I took him on in a full on tackle, knocking him to the ground in one swift move, courtesy of yours truly, Kay, also know as The Bird Kid that is Afraid of Heights.

Hmmm, I needed to think of changing my alias to something less embarrassing, like, The Bird Kid Responsible for the Death of Iggy, or T.B.K.R.F.T.D.O.I.

The initials didn't have quite the same ring to them as I'd hoped they would.

So, as I was trying to strangle Iggy to death, he slipped out of my grip surprisingly easy and was sticking his tongue out at me, or morel like in my general direction.

Either he was surprisingly slippery, or I was weaker than I thought. I preferred the first option.

"Geez, Kay, all he did was push you off a cliff. It wasn't like you didn't have wings or anything." Gazzy said, pointing this out to me.

And he said it so casually, like Iggy went around every day pushing kids off of cliffs and laughing as they fall screaming.

Somehow, it seemed too sadistic. Though I wouldn't put it below him if it involved bombs, which I had quickly learned he loved so much.

And then I realized that I shouldn't really be freaking out so much about this, because I had done a miraculous recovery and had pulled myself back up here, and I was perfectly fine.

And yet here I was acting like some crazy mental person who's lost their toothbrush. I have no idea where the comparison came from, but I liked it, so I stuck with it.

I was pretty sure Iggy had pushed me off the cliffs because he knew I was deathly afraid of heights.

Even when I was flying, I still felt like I could drop from the sky at any second and go burning down into my death. Cheery, aren't I?

I shrugged it off, and flashed a small smile. "I was just getting over the shock of someone pushing me off a cliff. Doesn't happen everyday, ya' know?"

Max mumbled something about the possibility of it happening everyday very likely, but I didn't pay too much attention to it.

Angel winked at me, and I suddenly knew she knew my secret.

"Can Angel read minds?" I blurted out in my oh-so-tactful way.

Nobody looked at me funny, like I'd grown a horn on my head and started prancing around. They just nodded calmly like, _Yep. That's our sweet, mind reading little seven year old._

"Cool." I said, noticing the way they answered my question so calmly and coolly, like if the topic were the moon or something.

I had to get some tips from these guys sooner of later, though Iggy was officially on my avoid-when-in-high-places list.

He wasn't on the top though. The top was avoiding high places at all.

"Alright guys, we've spent enough daylight joking around. Let's go to Dr. Martinez's house."

Yes, because apparently pushing me off a cliff was joking around.

The flock took off from the cave, leaving me standing at the edge and trying not to lose my food.

"Are you going to go? Or do I have to push you again?" Iggy asked from behind me, and I could see the glint of amusement in his blind eyes.

"No." I snapped, looking over the edge once again. "I'm going right now."

Iggy sighed and crossed his arms. "Then go."

I swear he was mocking me.

So, before he could push me off the cliff for a second time in one day, I opened my wings and jumped off.

**SAFFIRA'S POV: **

Wolf man threw me back in my cage and snarled at me, then cackled and left the room.

I had noticed slight changes when they were testing me.

My stamina was better, my eyes sight was like, super high wired, my hearing was better, and I was stronger too.

But I hadn't tried breaking out of here yet, because I would need to wait until the coast was clear.

Or at least clear enough for me a Chase to escape.

He was awake now, looking at the bottom of his cage, thinking.

I knew not to disturb him, because thinking was something he rarely did, and if he was thinking, that meant he realized how serious things were.

And I was starting to realize it too.

While it was super amazing that we had wings, we were trapped in dog crates, being experimented on, being zapped with lots of electricity if we don't run, and getting beat up by various other tests that were too painful to think about.

Not to mention seeing the horrible things that these whitecoats had done to others. I still shivered sometimes when I thought about them.

"Hey Saffira?" Chase asked, his voice sounding weak and hollow.

"Hmm?" I hummed, my chin resting on my knees, and I was starting to wonder how long it would take me to die from exhaustion.

"Why us? I mean, why did they choose to take us? There's like, over a billion people in the world, and they could have picked any one of them. It's not like we were rich or anything, but neither were we poor. We couldn't do anything special, either. So, why us?"

If I was being honest with myself, I had started asking myself the same questions.

I drew in a breath, my mind turning and trying to come up with an answer to his question.

I looked over to his crate, noticing it was too dark to see his expression, and leaned my head back against the bars, my arms locked around my knees.

"I don't know, Chase. Maybe because we just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe it's my fault. If I hadn't tripped over that root and twisted my knee, then maybe we would have had a chance to run away or fight or something. Weren't you fast enough to get away?"

I thought I saw Chase shake his head and frown, but again, it was too dark to see his expression clearly.

"They run super fast, like, faster then even I can run."

I knew that was pretty fast. Chase had been the fastest kid in the school ever sense kindergarten, and we're going to start high school this year.

Or, we were, until we got captured by the wolf man and whitecoats.

"Do you think we're going to ever get out?" Chase asked, and I could hear the hope in his voice.

I usually told the truth, to the point of pure bluntness, but for this, I didn't feel like it, so I answered, "Yeah."

The door opened just then, letting a shaft of light fall on us and making me squint my eyes and scowl, mentally prepping myself for the snarky comments that I would need.

The door shut behind the person, and gain, it was too dark to see anything.

The person stood in front of my cage, looking around cautiously, then he bent down so he could look me in the eyes.

"Who are you?" I growled, noticing the white lab coat. Seriously, these guys needed to learn that lab coats were so out of date.

"My name is Jeb Batchelder, and I'm here to rescue you and Chase."

**KAY'S POV:**

Even though I soon got the hang of flying, I was still focusing on not losing my lunch.

As long as I looked up, or straight ahead, but not down, I'd be fine.

Max flew in front, Fang next to her, then Iggy, and then me, because apparently authority went by age, then Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel.

"So, Kay, what do you like to do?" Nudge asked, sailing up next to me with a grin on her face.

"Um, I like to…" I had to think about it for a moment, because I hadn't really had time to "do" anything recently.

"I like to swim. And I like to do gymnastics."

That's right, me, the flying bird kid who's afraid of heights that came swim and do gymnastics.

"That's so cool! I've always liked watching to people do gymnastics on T.V. and stuff, though it kinda looks painful to do. I don't think my body stretches that far, though I do think I could do those running flips or just do some from standing. I tried once and I did okay, though it's harder than it looks. Maybe gymnastics could help with fighting erasers and stuff because you could do all those flips and everything and just get them good because of our super power strength too. And then swimming is also like, major fun, but we can't do it in public because of our wings and stuff, ya' know? So we don't get a chance to swim that often and…"

Nudge kept trailing on and on, and I felt like just folding in my wings and plummeting straight down, or having to looks over the edge of Mt. Everest.

Surely those would be less torture.

"Nudge! Could you tune it down a bit? I'm ready to drop out of the sky, and you're not even talking to me." Iggy finally got Nudge to be quiet, after a quick sorry and a few more sentences.

I almost thanked him, but I was still p.o.'d from his pushing me off the cliff.

By that time, we were in Arizona, and I was wondering what Dr. Martinez would be like.

Everyone seemed pretty excited to get there, so I figured she wouldn't like, turn evil or go psychopath on us.

We landed in some forest and tucked in our wings and walked for a few miles before reaching a nice house.

Everyone started walking faster, so I assumed we'd reached our destination.

Max rang the doorbell, and a few seconds later the door opened and a girl about our age squealed and enveloped Max in a hug with a few more squeals.

"Max! You came to visit us! Mom's not here right now, but she should be back in an hour or so, so come on in!"

Max smiled genuinely, and I was left standing there wondering who the heck this perky chick was.

We all went inside, and the entire flock seemed to relax, except me.

Max noticed this and stood up, then introduced us.

"Ella, this is Kay, the new member of our flock. Kay, this is Ella, my half sister."

I smiled shyly and waved, while Ella grinned at me and gave me a hug.

"Hi Kay! It's so nice to meet you! Must be fun to be in the flock, right? Getting to fly up in the air and kicking butt."

She smiled at me warmly and I just nodded, ignoring the part about flying up in the air.

"Nice to meet you too, Ella." I said, figuring that I should make friends with Max's half sister.

After that we all just chilled for an hour, making small talk and discovering the heaven that is chocolate chip cookies.

The front door opened and closed, and there stood someone I assumed was Dr. Martinez, holding groceries.

"Hey Ella, I'm home." She said, then looked up and noticed us, and gave all of us the biggest smile we'd ever gotten.

"Hey mom." Max said, and I could feel her joy over running all of her other feelings.

Dr. Martinez's smile grew even wider, if that was possible, and she hurried and set the groceries in the kitchen and started giving out hugs.

Even Fang hugged her, which I thought was a major leap for him.

She stopped at me and smiled.

"Hi. You must be a new member of Max's flock. I'm Dr. Martinez, Max's mom."

"Hello, Dr. Martinez, my name is Kay." I figured I should make a good impression by acting polite.

Dr. Martinez gave me a hug and told me welcome to the family, then gave us more chocolate chip cookies, and I immediately loved her.

After that we all just chilled, and Max told her mom why we were here, and asked if she would mind us staying for a while.

"Of course you can stay for a while, Max. All of you are family. Stay as long as you want."

Max gave her mom another hug, and Ella squealed again.

"That's so cool! Max, you can sleep in my room, and so can Kay, and Angel and Nudge! We could talk about everything."

I, personally, had had enough talking from Nudge today, but I was willing to sleep in the same room as them.

"Where are the guys going to sleep?" I asked, just 'cause I didn't think there would be enough room for all of us in Ella's room, and I didn't think Ella would want guys sleeping in her room.

"They can sleep in the living room. There are plenty of couch, and I'm sure I can find some sleeping bags somewhere if needed."

Dr. Martinez nodded at them, and they all nodded back, agreeing with her plan.

"Dibs on one of the couches!" Iggy called, then proceeded to jump onto one.

"How does he do that?" I muttered as he landed on one perfectly.

"Sometimes it doesn't seem like he's blind." Max agreed, looking at the grinning Iggy.

"I'm not blind all the time. Put me in a pure white room, and I'll be able to see."

Somebody, I think it was Max, said something about putting in a mental institution, which had white walls all over the place.

I couldn't help but grin, finally feeling welcome.

When it was dinner time, we all sat around the table with Dr. Martinez at the head, Max to her left, Fang on her right, Ella next to Max, Nudge next to Fang, Iggy next to Nudge, me next to Iggy, Gazzy next to Ella, and Angel next to Gazzy.

So it went, Dr. Martinez, Max, Ella, Gazzy, Angel, me, Iggy, Nudge, and then Fang, going in a clockwise direction.

Honestly, even though I was the one explaining it, I confused myself with all that.

"So, what did you guys do today?" Ella asked as she lifted her fork to her mouth.

"I was pushed off a cliff." I volunteered, shooting a glare at Iggy, who chuckled.

Ella's eyes grew wide. "Really? Was it scary? Who pushed you?"

I nodded and took a bite of my delicious taco before answering.

"Yeah, really. It was scary at first, because I didn't know how to fly, but after that I was okay. As to the person that pushed me off, I will not point out the culprit, who goes by the name of Iggy."

Ella looked at Iggy then, with something sort of googley eyes, and I felt the slight pang of jealousy, though I wasn't sure why.

I mean, this guy pushed my off a cliff, and here I was getting jealous of a girl making googley eyes at him.

How pathetic was I?

I snorted and brushed it off, then took another bite of my taco, listening to the conversation going around me.

"Max, when will Total come back?" Angel asked sweetly, and again I was left to wonder who this was.

"I don't know sweetie, but don't worry. Total's fine. He's a mutant dog and knows how to take care of himself, plus he has Akila with him."

So, what I got from this was that Total was a mutant dog. What next, a rabid brain eating bunny?

Angel giggled at me, and I knew that she had read my mind, yet again.

"Don't worry Kay, we don't know of any rabid brain eating bunnies." Angel chirped, which caused everyone to look at me funny.

"What is she talking about?" Max asked as Angel giggled again.

"She read my mind." I mumbled around my food, because Angel had said that at the point of me getting a huge bite from my taco, so naturally, it was even more embarrassing.

"Angel, how many times do I have to tell you not to read people's mind unless they say it's okay?" Max asked tiredly, rubbing her temples, like they had this conversation daily.

"Sorry Max. I promise not to do it again." Angel apologized, and Max nodded, so I figured all was good.

After dinner we stayed up late watching _Finding_ _Nemo_.

It was Angel's idea, and since we all knew not to argue with a mind reading seven year old, we agreed.

Surprisingly, all of us stayed awake while watching it, even Max.

I made a mental note that bird kids liked to watch kiddy movies made by DISNEY.

When it was over, it was past eleven, so Max ordered all of us to go to bed.

There were a few complaints, but nothing that strong because we were all tired from a long day of flying.

So the girls dragged themselves off to Ella's bedroom, while the boys grabbed couches.

I saw Iggy grab the one he had called dibs on earlier and smiled to myself before they disappeared out of my line of sight.

When we got to Ella's room, we found sleeping bags waiting for us, and we lay on top of them happily.

"So, what do you guys want to talk about first?" Ella piped up once the lights were off.

"Can't we just, you know, sleep?" Max offered, and I agreed silently.

"Ella wants to talk about boys. I'm going to sleep." Angel informed us, then cuddled down inside her sleeping bag and promptly went to sleep.

I raised my eyebrows, but said nothing.

"Okay then, let's talk about boys. So, who likes who? Max, we already know you are so deeply in love with Fang, but what about you Ella?" Nudge started the conversation.

I wasn't too keen on entering in on it.

I saw Max blush and mutter something about her and Fang, but I didn't hear.

Ella thought about it for a while, then blushed and said, "Promise not to tell?"

Everyone agreed not to, and I was glad to be one of the people not being asked.

"Well, I really like Iggy." She said finally, after a moment of silence.

Nudge was beaming. "I knew it!" She practically shouted, and did a fist pump.

I, on the other hand, was seething inside for reason unknown even to myself.

I so, _totally_ did not like Iggy, so why was I getting mad?

The answer was: I have no idea, and I don't want to find out.

"What about you, Kay? Who do you like?"

Whoopee, I got to be dragged into the conversation.

"Um, well I've only been with the flock for two days. It's pretty much impossible to say I like someone if I barely know you guys. So, I don't know."

I thought I did a pretty darn good job of avoiding the question, but Nudge was ever persistent.

"If you had to pick, who would you?"

I hated questions like that.

"Um… Who do you like, Nudge?"

If you don't feel like answering the question, turn the spotlight on someone else.

"Well, Fang's already taken and Gazzy's too young, so I'd have to pick Iggy. But that's not what I asked you. Who would you pick?"

And the spotlight was back on me.

"Well, I guess I'd have the same answer as you."

There, use logic to explain something you can't.

"Well, Iggy would be happy to know that three girls would pick him." Max said, looking up at the ceiling.

Time to change to spotlight again.

"So what's going on between you and Fang, Max?" I teased, though also slightly curious.

Max blushed. "It's nothing really." She brushed it aside, and I felt embarrassment, s well as love, radiating from her.

I felt like I was intruding.

"It's not nothing, Max. You think about him all the time. Like, seriously, you hardly think of anything else."

Angel mumbled from in her sleeping bag, and Max blushed and even deeper red.

"I thought you were asleep."

"I was trying to sleep, but with everyone's thoughts screaming so loud, and Kay's all jumbled up, it's very hard to."

Great, now my thoughts were jumbled up, and even a mind reader couldn't sort them out.

"I vote we all go to sleep now." I announced, rolling over and closing my eyes.

"I second that vote." Max closed her eyes, and Nudge muttered something else, then from the shifting around, I think she went to sleep.

"Goodnight." Ella said, and I didn't really stay awake long enough to find out if anyone replied.

**IGGY'S POV:**

"So, how'd I get stuck on the floor?" Fang muttered from his sleeping bag.

"Because you didn't calls dibs fast enough." I lay with my hand behind my bed, staring up at the darkness that never left.

"Yeah. Besides, you're the oldest one here, so you should give up some stuff for us younger kids." Gazzy was on the other couch.

"He's right you know. I'm sure Max would have done the same thing. And you would've volunteered to give up couch space then."

Fang was silent at my last comment, but I'm sure he was scowling.

"Can you hear what the girls are talking about?" Fang asked, just suddenly, out of the blue, which was completely unlike him.

"Um, maybe. Hold on." And then I strained my ears to listen, but all I heard was muffles, and then Nudge shout "I knew it!" and after that, I couldn't really hear anything else.

"Nope, just Nudge shouting she knew something. Why do you ask?"

Fang was silent, so wither he didn't want to answer my question, or he forgot I was blind.

"I shrugged, Ig." He said finally.

"We need to finish building that alarm clock bomb tonight, so we can set it up tomorrow." Gazzy said eagerly.

"Totally. Hey, Fang? Promise not to tell Max?" I asked as I sat up.

"I never tell." Fang replied, and I grinned, then turned to Gazzy.

"Alright, bring it out."

There was some shifting, then Gazzy came over to the couch I was on and handed it to me.

I felt around for a bit.

"Alright, Gazzy, make sure that the red and blue don't get mixed up, and that the green one gets plugged in first."

Gazzy shuffled around for a bit, then announced he was done with that.

"Okay, next, plug the blue one into the slot on the left of the green one."

"Done with that."

"Great, now plug in the red in the left slot of the green one."

"Got it."

I grinned. "Alright, time to set it up."

Gazzy handed me the bomb and we snuck upstairs, after Fang's good luck, and stopped by the door that led to Ella's room.

I opened the door quietly, then asked Gazzy where everyone was sleeping.

Once I got a mental image of the layout, I snuck over to a corner and placed the bomb there, making sure to set it to go off at three a.m.

There was some rustling, and both of us froze, then Kay's voice came over to us, whispered, but sharp.

"What the heck are you guys doing? Wasn't pushing me off a cliff good enough for one day?"

So she was still bitter about that. Well, it was fun, and I knew that it would teach her how to fly, so I had no regrets about it.

"Well, yes, it was good enough for one day. But this isn't for today, it's for tomorrow." I whispered back.

I heard some more rustling, and I knew Kay was coming over to see what the heck we were doing.

I quickly hid the bomb, which I had gotten very good at from Max, by shoving it in my pocket.

Hopefully she hadn't noticed my shoving it in my pocket.

"Take whatever it is that you just put in your pocket out."

She sounded like Max, and I guess she did notice.

When I made no move to, she came closer, and I could smell the type of shampoo she used, which smelt like roses, and maybe some peach, and those two went surprisingly well together.

"Take it out, before I have to get it from you myself."

I grinned, lots of dirty jokes passing through my mind at those words.

"Come and get it." I then managed to slip out the door and down the hallway quickly without Kay getting a hold of me.

"Woke someone up?" Fang asked, apparently not asleep yet.

"Yep."

"Who?"

"Kay."

"You're lucky it wasn't Max."

"I know."

"Gazzy's coming down the stairs, and Kay's right behind him."

"Thanks bro."

"No problem."

And then I heard their footsteps, and Gazzy telling me to run.

So I did, with Kay right on my heels.

She was pretty fast, able to keep up with me.

I went out the front door and into the forest, Kay still hot on my trail.

I dodged trees from senses, and did the best I could not to run into one.

Apparently I had slowed down enough for Kay to tackle me from behind, because that's exactly what she did.

"Blind kid going down!" I managed to say before my face hit the dirt.

I turned myself over until I no longer tasted dirt and grinned.

"Hand it over, Iggy." Kay said slowly.

She was really close, pinning me down, and I could smell her shampoo again, and it smelt good.

"Nope." I said, still grinning.

"Iggy." She said sharply, surprisingly strong.

I mean, I was pretty darn strong, but she had me pinned like a wrestler pinned a nerd against their locker.

"Well, I would, but you've pinned down my arm, and I can't really reach it, unless you let go of that arm, unless you want to get it yourself. If so, go ahead."

There was silence, probably her scowling and trying to decide if she could trust me enough to let go of one of my wrists.

She did, slowly, but only one. I reached down into my pocket and pulled it out, showing it for her to see.

"What is it?" She grabbed it with the hand she had let my wrist go.

"It's an alarm bomb, set to go ff at three in the morning. It also unleashes a small amount of smoke."

I was proud of this bomb. It had only taken me and Gazzy a few hours to build, and it was pretty good.

Again, Kay was silent, and I was still pinned down, though I did have one free hand.

"If you do something, like nod or smile or anything, tell me, because I can't see."

Still silence, and then she answered slowly.

"Okay. I should probably let you up now."

I shrugged. "That would probably be a good idea."

So she let go of me, and then I flipped her over and pinned her before she had a chance to blink.

I grinned. "Payback. Where's the bomb?"

"You pushed me off a cliff, and all I did was pin you, and now you want payback? Ha, if those were your rules, I should have gotten payback a long time ago."

"True. Now where's the bomb?"

She would have to give in eventually, unless she liked being pinned.

"I've hidden it. And no, I'm not so stupid I would put it in my pocket, like some idiot."

I scowled, then grinned.

"Fine, but if you don't tell me where it is, you'll just have to stay pinned like this until three a.m., when we find out where it is because it will go off."

Kay was silent for a while, and I assumed she was seething or something, or trying to come up with a way to escape.

She was silent for so long, I was beginning to worry.

"You didn't die of suffocation, did you? I mean, you're pinned with your back to the ground, so unless you suffocated on air, which I highly think you didn't, so why aren't you saying anything?"

"Because I was thinking about giving you the bomb."

Yeah right, more like thinking of a way to escape.

"Sure you were."

She stayed silent, then I felt her struggle a bit, but then it died down.

I could still smell her shampoo, and I think I might have unconsciously leaned in to smell it or something.

"What are you doing?" She asked, probably looking at me like I'd grown a third eye on my forehead.

That would be cool, if that eye could see.

I didn't answer her; instead I did the impulsive thing a teenage boy would do.

I leaned in and kissed her full on the lips.

She didn't do anything for a second, and then she slowly, very hesitantly, kissed me back.

I broke off and grinned, proud of myself.

"Can you get off me now?" She asked, her voice sounding small.

I did as she asked, and I heard her dusting herself off.

"You get that instead of the bomb." She told me, and then I heard her running away.

Honestly, I was fine with that.

I made my way back to the house and slipped inside, shutting the door quietly behind me.

"We were starting to get worried. We thought that maybe Kay had murdered you or something."

I heard Fang say.

"Did you keep the bomb from Kay?" Gazzy asked excitedly.

"No."

"You were gone that long, and you didn't keep it away from her? What were you doing?"

Fang chuckled.

"Yeah, Kay looked pretty confused when she came inside, and she went straight back to Ella's room. She also had some dirt on her back."

I grinned despite myself and sat down on the couch I had called dibs on.

"She tackled my from behind and pinned me down and made me give the bomb to her."

Gazzy laughed, and Fang chuckled.

"Kay had you pinned? Dude, that's sad. So why does _she_ have dirt on her back?"

"Because she made the mistake of letting go of both my hands, so I returned the favor and pinned her. She still wouldn't give me the bomb."

Fang whistled.

"Dude, she so had you whipped."

I snorted.

"Like you could've done better with Max."

Fang was silent, and I knew he was admitting I was right in his head.

"Anyway, I'm going to get some sleep."

And with that I rolled over and went to sleep, wondering what Kay had done with the bomb.

**Why yes I _did_ get carried away here. Anyway, this is a really long chapter, and updated really fast, so I hope you guys like it! Guess we're just going to have to figure out what happens with Saffira and Chase in the next chapter, and what Kay did with the bomb. Thanks for reading! Don't forget to R&R! Or just read, I'm fine with that :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**NEVERMORE came out YESTERDAY~! SUPER excited for that to come out, can't wait to get it, and two other book I've been waiting for come out in August too, so I have a feeling this will be a good month. I only have 2o something more days until I start high school though :'(. I asked my brother for advice, and he said to avoid getting run over by staying to the sides of the building, like the lockers. I haven't gone shopping for anything yet, though I don't have my schedule or my supply list, but we don't get those until school starts. Our family went to Chick-fli-a, and you know it's busy when you see the manager buying stuff from Walmart. We waited there, for like two or so hours just to get four sandwiches. It was kind of a let down, but at least we got our food in the end, at like, ten o clock at night. Anyway, enough of my insane ramblings. Onto the story~ Oh, one more thing to add. I was checking the official website for Maximum Ride, and they have the first 16 chapter of Nevermore up, so if you guys want to read it, it's free and stuff.**

**Thanks to: **

**BlackVenom: Thanks! I started this chapter as soon as I finished the third, because I was so excited about writing this. I think it's one of my best stories :D. Hopefully you guys think that too.**

**Guest: Thanks. Somehow I knew you'd like it :]**

**SAFFIRA'S POV:**

When some guy wearing a white lab coat walks in and tells you he's going to rescue you from this horrible place where a bunch of other people walk around in white lab coats but they try and see how long you can last with fifty or so wolf people attacking you, what would your reaction be?

My reaction was to look at him like he was stupid.

"Okay, _Jeb_. I don't believe that for one second. If you're testing our intelligence levels, I'd say we passed the test. Can you leave us alone now?"

Instead of answering me he unlocked my crate, then did the same to Chase, who had been sitting there silently, watching Jeb.

I just sat there, staring at the open door, wondering if this was some kind of trick.

Lick, maybe the floor would zap me if I set foot on it, or as soon as I tried getting out, wolf man would return and shred me.

Jeb bent down and held out his hand to me, showing that he wanted me to take it.

How about no.

"Come on, we don't have much time. They'll figure out that I'm here soon enough."

I just sat there, staring at his hand then decided, what the heck.

If this guy was evil, then I could just take him out.

So I grabbed his hand and he pulled me out of the dog crates and held his other hand out to Chase.

Chase didn't touch it, but climbed out of the crate himself and looked at me.

So maybe we _were_ going to get out of here.

Jeb told us to follow him and stay very closely, and act like we didn't want to go with him.

That wasn't too hard for me, so I pretended to struggle and fight as he dragged us out of the halls, Chase doing the same.

We got to the front doors, and wolf man was there.

"Why do you have these two?"

"I was told to run some tests on their wing strength, and to do that I need the space provided out doors. Don't worry, I have them secure."

Wolf man glared at me, and I smiled and waved at him.

He growled, but allowed us to pass through.

Wolf man was dumb, but I didn't really expect much different.

We kept pretending to struggle and kick until Jeb led us far away enough for us to stop.

"Alright. We should be out of their radars by now, so it's safe enough to stop struggling."

I said nothing as he let go of me and Chase, just looked at him like, Okay genius, what next?

"If we walk a little bit further I have a jeep we can use to get to a safe house."

He looked at us, as if waiting for us to jump up and down like excited little kids, but all he got was stares.

"Follow me."

And we did, mostly because we had no idea where we were, or how to get away.

So as we loaded up into his jeep I looked around, and I knew that there was no chance of ever getting back home.

Jeb started the jeep and drove away from the horrible building and wolf man.

"You're lucky we got out so easily. If you get captured ever again, it won't be even the slightest bit easy to escape."

Naw, really? I thought we could just walk right on out waving.

"So where are we? What say you, Chase? California?"

Chase smiled weakly at me, and I could see how beat up he really was.

"Looks like California. If it is California, it's a long way from home. I don't think we'll be home for dinner."

I smiled, knowing Chase to always brighten up the mood.

"I'm taking you to a remote location where you'll be safe from Itex."

"Okay, first of all, is that what they call that building? Second of all, where is this "remote" location?"

Jeb smiled at me through the rear-view mirror. "Yes, that is what they call the building. As for the remote location, you'll just have to find out."

It turns out that the remote location is a tiny island off the coast of California that was big enough to walk around and come back to the same spot in about a day, maybe less.

I frowned at the small shack on the shore.

"Something tells me that there's going to be no TV."

TV was my life, take that away, and you've got nothing.

Well, I had Chase, which I supposed counted for something.

He always knew how to brighten up the mood and make you run.

We went inside the shack and I was right. There wasn't really much there except for two laptops, one which looked brand new, some couches, two doors, a bathroom, and a kitchen with a huge fridge.

Like seriously, the fridge was so big, I could shut myself, Chase, and Jeb inside of it and still have plenty of room.

I stared in awe of it and when Jeb asked what I thought of the place, I said that there was a big fridge, and Chase agreed.

"I need to go over some thing with you guys, so please, have a seat."

Jeb gestured to the couches, and both of us took the one opposite from him.

He cleared his throat, and the way he looked made me think of the time my dad made me sit down and have "the talk" with him.

That was, undoubtedly, the most embarrassing moment of my life, mostly because Chase had been there, and my dad had given us no warning.

I shivered at that memory and focused back on Jeb.

"First of all, your bone structure has become lighter, so you can now fly. Also, because your genetics have been changed, you are also now two percent bird. Though this might sound cool, you will need to eat between a three thousand and four thousand calorie diet, so you will need to eat a lot more. You may also develop special abilities, like being able to read minds or fly at the speed of light. You are also stronger and faster than before. Your senses have also been improved, like sight and hearing."

I'm sure the entire time he was telling us this; my face was twisted into some confused expression, because he lost me after genetics.

"Cool." Chase said, after he was done.

I looked at him like he was nuts.

"Did you actually understand all of that?"

He shrugged, and then I remembered he was a science whiz, so of course he would understand all of this stuff.

I, on the other hand, was lost.

"The first thing we need to do is get you some food, then teach you how to fly."

That was the first sentence he had said so far that I understood and liked.

He made us like, a super buffet, and we loaded our plates up with so much food, I didn't think I could see over it.

We dove in, going back for thirds.

Once we were done, I realized what he meant about needing more food.

"So, let's learn how to fly."

Jeb led us to the roof, and I thought it was going to collapse under us.

It didn't though, and I was glad for that.

"Okay, I want you guys to jump off this roof, and then spread your wings and flap a few times. Don't worry, the fall isn't really enough for you guys to hurt yourself, and with your new bone structure and everything, you are quite safe."

Okay, call me crazy, but one of the things I'd been told to do is _not_ jump off any roofs, and I wasn't so sure about this one being different.

So, instead of doing what he said, I crossed my arms and gave him a you're insane look.

He sighed and rubbed his temples, like he was tired of us.

I looked at Chase, just to see what he was doing.

He was staring at the roof with a funny expression, like he couldn't decide whether he liked gingerbread or chocolate chip cookies better.

That was a serious argument between us, and it involved lots of throwing cookie batter and cookies, as well as a huge clean-up mess afterwards.

So, I decided to tease him about it.

"What's wrong? If you're trying to decide, chocolate chip are the best, not gingerbread. That stuff is nasty."

He looked up at me with a glint of amusement in his eyes, like he was visiting that memory too.

"Nah. Just trying to decide when I should jump off the roof. Eating the best cookie in the world, gingerbread, or without the best cookie in the world."

He grinned at me, probably at my expression, which my mouth was slightly open, ready for my next snarky remark when he took me by surprise with that whole "I'm-going-to-jump-off-the-roof thing."

"You're really going to jump off the roof?" I finally asked, wondering who had replaced Chase.

"Yep. Jeb's right, with our new structure and stuff, we won't get hurt."

I just stared at him. Now I knew he was replaced with a clone.

"Dude, you are so a clone. What have you done with the real Chase?"

Chase (who may or may not be a clone) just smiled at me and jumped off the roof, spreading his wings and giving them a few flaps.

That was the first time I had ever seen Chase's wings, and they were…. well, very very pretty.

His wings had a base color of light brown, with a few shades of darker brown mixed in here and there, and the tips were cream colored, with a black streak running through the center of each feather.

He grinned up at me, and I realized that he was flying, not falling and staying above the ground with a few strokes of his wings.

"Your turn." He sailed up to me and landed perfectly next to me, grinning the whole time.

"Well, okay then. But only because you jumped off first, and it looked really easy."

I stood at the edge of the roof and took in a deep breath, then jumped off the roof, spreading my wings and giving a few powerful thrusts.

And then I was flying.

If felt amazing, and I didn't really want to land.

So I flew around the shack once, then landed next to Chase, grinning like an idiot, even as I stumbled a bit when I fell.

"That. Was. Awesome." Each word deserved their own sentence.

"That was excellent from both of you, especially for your first flight. Now, if you guys don't mind, I would like to try and find out your abilities."

All sense of happiness gone.

"What? Did you take us away from Itex just so we could be your personal lab rats here? Well, if that was your intention, sorry bud, not going to happen."

I just snapped. I mean, who does this guy think he is?

He takes us to a remote location, gives us food, then tells us to jump off a building.

After that, he gives us some kind of report on our flying, then says he wants to find our special abilities.

Yeah, not going to happen.

"I meant no harm, Saffira. I only meant to help. By finding these abilities, we could train them and strengthen them."

Which means, I can study you and see what you do when I put you in certain conditions.

"No. That's my final answer." I snapped, crossing my arms.

Jeb sighed but nodded.

"She's just like Max." He muttered, and I wondered who the heck that was.

I peeked a look at Chase, who was pretty much in the same stance as me, only with less attitude.

"Chase, can I talk to you?" I asked, motioning him over.

"Sure. So, what's the plan for escaping?" He grinned as I glared at him, because that's exactly what I was going to talk about.

"Well, there isn't really a plan. I was going to say we just take off and leave, get back to the mainland, you know? Maybe somehow get back home and check up on our parents."

Chase nodded and spread his wings. "Sounds good. Shall we go now?"

I nodded and spread my own wings, then jumped off the roof for a second time in one day and started flying as fast as I could; knowing Chase was following close behind.

"Bye Jeb! See you when I see you!" I called back and waved as we left.

Jeb just looked up at us and sighed, then waved his own goodbye.

I frowned; because that was so much less dramatic then I thought it would be.

"Back to the mainland?" Chase asked me, coming to my side.

"Yep, back to the mainland."

**KAY'S POV:**

I made sure to get up extra early the next morning, before three, and sneak out of their room.

If anyone caught me, my excuse would be a drink of water.

So that morning I got up at two forty-five, feeling plenty rested for unknown reasons, and went down to the kitchen to wait for fifteen minuets.

I grabbed a glass and ran the tap water from the sink, trying to be very quiet.

Okay, so I hadn't gotten rid of Iggy and Gazzy's bomb.

I had kept it and set it back up after I was sure the coast was clear, then went back to sleep.

I hadn't destroyed it because of Iggy, and he had felt so proud about that bomb.

Though I didn't know why I hadn't set it up in the living room to wake them up, but it was fair enough.

When we were in the forest, and Iggy kissed me, I had been too shocked to do anything at first.

And then, slowly as the shock wore off, I had started to kiss him back, feeling like someone who betrayed their best friend.

Ella liked Iggy, and I had kissed him.

There was absolutely no way I would ever have a chance of fixing my feelings now.

I took a few sips of my water, then decided that I was going to move the bomb down stairs.

I snuck back up and grabbed the bomb, then made it back down the stairs and halfway into the living room before I realized I only had a minuet, and that minuet was moving very quickly.

So I just set it down next to the couch Iggy was sleeping on and practically ran back to the kitchen and grabbed my water.

I was so ready to pretend that I had nothing to do with this.

Sure enough, in a few seconds the alarm/bomb thing went off, like super loud.

There were noises like police sirens, dogs barking, and every other imaginable loud sound possible.

I could hear someone yelling, and then Fang cursing, and then the sound being muffled slightly, most likely by a pillow, which didn't help very much.

And then the smoke must have come, because there was some slight coughing, but nothing too serious.

There was some more yelling, then it got quiet, and all three of the boys walked into the kitchen, looking quite mad.

It was really hard not to laugh at all three of them.

Fang looked totally p.o.'d and ready to murder whoever did this, and his hair was sticking up.

Gazzy had wide eyes, but they were kind of excited, and his hair was like Fangs.

Iggy was mad, but I could sense that undercurrent of pride that his bomb actually worked. Half of his hair was sticking up, while the other side was pressed flat against his head.

I took a long, slow sip of water, watching them and waiting for them to notice me.

The entire time I was trying really hard not to laugh.

"What was that?" Fang asked, turning to Iggy.

"That was the alarm bomb. Nice to know it worked. Dude, that was awesome, too bad it wasn't in the girl's room though."

Gazzy nodded enthusiastically in agreement with Iggy.

Fang turned and saw me, and he smirked.

"What are you doing down here at three in the morning, Kay?"

Iggy raised his eyebrows but said nothing, though I could sense his surprise and his slight awkwardness at this.

"Getting water. I woke up early and I was parched." I shrugged, knowing I was a really good at lying.

"And it just happens that the bomb went off after you got down here? Iggy told us he didn't get the bomb back from you."

I took another sip of water before answering.

"I slipped it back in his pocket before I ran back here. He must not have noticed."

Iggy frowned, like he was trying to remember if I did that or not, and Gazzy was looking slightly confused.

"No, you definitely had it and took it back to the house with you."

Iggy crossed his arms, looking happy with himself.

I noticed a shadow behind the guys and smiled to myself behind another drink of water.

"Nope, you had it. I gave it to you after you pinned me. I must say, it worked pretty well. That was some good handiwork."

Iggy grinned, and so did Gazzy.

"Yeah we did build that one pretty good, huh Gazster? Still, it would have been even better in the girl's room, where it was meant to be."

"So you were trying to put an alarm bomb in our room? I can't believe I didn't notice it before. You are so busted Iggy."

Turns out the shadow was Max. Huh, who would have known?

Max stepped in to the kitchen, looking tired and mad with her arms crossed.

"Hey Max. What are you doing up?"

Fang asked, pretending to be innocent.

Max just gave him a flat look then nodded to me.

"The dumb alarm thing woke me up. I could hear it clearly even in Ella's room. You're lucky everyone else is a heavy sleeper."

Max gave Iggy a death glare, while he just stood there shifting his weight.

"It wouldn't have caused any harm Max, just woke all of you up."

"I'll leave so you can decide how to punish them, Max."

I said cheerily, pouring the rest of my water down the sink and resting the glass beside it.

As I passed Iggy, I whispered in his ear.

"Payback."

And then I slipped out of the room, going back to Ella's and snuggling down into my sleeping bag, falling asleep in the warm cocoon quickly.

**SAFFIRA'S POV:**

I looked up at the sky as I flew, enjoying the sense of freedom.

We had been flying all night, and both of us were exhausted. It was around one in the morning, and we had barely made it halfway back home.

"Chase you still hanging in there?" I asked, looking over to him.

"Yeah. I'm still here, though I may not be for much longer. I'm ready to pass out. How are you doing?"

I smiled when he tried to put enthusiasm in his voice, but ended up sounding like he was on medication.

"I could go for a quick nap, or you know, sleep 'til twelve. Let's find a place to rest."

Chase nodded and we slowly angled down, trying to find a good place to rest.

"Well, I don't see any luxury hotels around here, so I guess we're going to have to settle for a tree or the ground."

We landed in some forest, in some state and almost collapsed as soon as we touched the ground.

"Come on. I bet you I can beat you to those branches on the tree."

Chase pointed up to the branches of some huge oak tree and grinned at me.

"You're on." I said, and he quickly started climbing up the tree with surprisingly good skill.

I, on the other hand, just flew up there and sat on a branch, dangling my legs over the side.

Chase popped up next to me a few minuets later, even more tired.

"How'd you get up here so fast?" He asked, panting.

"I flew." I stuck my tongue out at him as he scowled.

"Okay, you won." He reluctantly agreed, then leaned back against the trunk next to me.

I leaned back against the tree and pulled my legs up, and my wings in.

I closed my eyes and was halfway asleep when Chase started talking.

"Hey Saffira, do you think our parents are looking for us?"

"Of course." I said, my word slurred by sleep.

"Do you think we'll see them again?"

"Yes."

"Do you think they'll accept us like this? With the wings and everything?"

"Yes, Chase. Now can we go to sleep and stop with the twenty questions?"

Chase was silent for a while, and I thought maybe I'd been too hard on him.

"Sorry Chase. I'm just tired. I don't mean to be rude."

"It's okay, Saffira. I was just wondering what you were thinking."

"Well, my brain is functioning properly, and I'm not sure if my thoughts make sense right now. I'm still trying to take all of this in, you know? Like, I'm not sure if this is a nightmare or a dream."

I hadn't meant to spill my guts like that, but I did, and I couldn't take back those words.

"At least we have each other, right? I mean, not all hope is lost if we've got people we know and trust."

"True."

"Saffira, do you love me?"

I was now wide awake, wondering where the heck that question came from.

"Of course, like a brother. You're like family."

There, that was a safe thing to do, but if he asked any more, I was going to pretend to be asleep.

"But do you love me more than like a brother?"

Sleep time. I evened my breathing and pretended to be asleep.

Chase didn't do anything for a while, and once he thought I was asleep, he gently kissed me on the head.

"Good night Saffira." He whispered.

I didn't fall asleep for a long time after that.

My thoughts made no sense what so ever, and I knew I wasn't asleep, so I was awake, and this stuff had really happened.

Chase and I had never really ever had romantic interest in each other.

Sure we teased each other, and we had been best friend basically since we were born, but we had never really said we liked each other that way.

We were always competing too, trying to one up each other, Chase usually winning the races clearly, but me winning our wrestling matches.

And Chase was…. Chase. It was almost impossible for me to think of him like that, because I'd known him for so long.

I highly doubted he liked me too. I wasn't pretty or anything, just normal and me, a couch potato with a knack for getting into trouble and exploring.

Chase was athletic and strong, well muscled and handsome, with lots of girls throwing themselves at him.

He was sweet and caring, but if you got on his bad side, you'd have a lot of trouble, and there's no point in running, because he can outrun you.

Chase had everything it took to become popular and a track star, yet he mostly kept to the shadows, not liking to be noticed and sticking by me.

I've always thought of him as a brother, and I always thought he thought of me a like a sister, but apparently not.

I tossed and turned for a bit, almost falling out of the tree a few times, looking at Chase sleep.

Eventually I fell asleep too, somewhere near dawn, thinking about what it meant.

**KAY'S POV:**

I woke up before Max could make me go deaf again, and I wondered why I was such an early riser.

Max was sleeping this time though, and I realized she must have stayed up late to chew out the boys.

I looked over at Ella and her peaceful sleeping face, and again I felt like I'd betrayed her.

It wasn't my fault; honestly, Iggy was the one who kissed me, though I did kiss him back.

I decided I wouldn't tell her, just to spare her feelings, and propped myself up on my elbows, looking for the time.

It was seven thirty a.m. and the sun was already up.

I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but it didn't work very well, so I just lay there, staring up at the ceiling.

And then I wondered if I could feel people's emotions when they were asleep.

I hadn't really tried it before, out of respect for their privacy, but I didn't think they'd mind that much.

So I stretched out my sixth sense and realized that yes, I could feel people's emotions when they were asleep.

Ella's was relaxed and chilled, and I wondered what she was dreaming about.

A nice day at the beach, maybe.

Angel's were…. I wasn't sure what hers were; it was like she had a barrier.

Max's were slightly panicked, but a clam sense was over her too.

And then I wondered how far I could stretch it, like maybe I could reach the boys.

So I tried, and ended up mentally exhausted, ready to curl up and go back to sleep again for… five minuets.

Instead of doing that, I ran last night through my head again, remembering all the details and storing it.

Max woke up at eight and looked at me, realizing I was awake.

"Hey." I said, smiling.

"Hi." She managed to get out, then stood up and stretched.

"I'm going to go take a shower. There's another one downstairs if you want to take one too." Max said, gesturing at the door.

"Thanks." I said, getting up and stretching myself.

I nodded to Max before going downstairs and grabbing a towel and slipping into the bathroom, making sure it was unoccupied.

I took a quick shower, letting my muscles relax and wash away the tension in them.

I wrapped the towel around me and grabbed my clothes and headed out the door, only to bump into someone.

"Sorry." I said, blushing as I realized it was Iggy.

"Uh, it's fine, Kay."

I wanted to ask how he knew it was me but said nothing as I slipped past him and back into Ella's room.

"Hi Kay! Max is still in the shower but she told me to pick out some clothes for you! Here, these will work just fine."

Nudge beamed at me and my stomach dropped as I realized she was holding a jean mini skirt and a red spaghetti strap tanktop.

"Um, thanks Nudge but do you have anything else?"

She looked offended, and I grabbed the clothes after she gave me the bambi eyes.

"Dumb bambi eyes. Why did she have to give me a mini skirt?"

I muttered as I changed in Ella's closet, then came out.

Nudge handed my some shoes, and I let out a sigh of relief when I saw they were regular ankle high, red converse.

"Okay, now we have to do your hair!" She beamed at me, and I frowned.

"I'm just going to brush it. I promise that in three weeks you can give me a complete make-over, however you want. But for now, I'm just going to brush my hair."

Nudge nodded excitedly, and I wondered what I had gotten myself into.

I walked downstairs, tugging on the bottom of the skirt the entire time, trying to lower it.

I went into the kitchen, where everyone was gathered, waiting for Iggy to cook breakfast.

Fang looked at me and raised his eyebrows, while I mouthed "Nudge."

He smirked and went to go sit by Max, who was now sitting at the table, her hair still wet from her shower.

"Why are you wearing a mini skirt? And a tank top? I didn't think that was your style." Max said, practically laughing.

"It was Nudge. And it's not my style."

I shot a death glare at Nudge, who beamed at me and went back to reading her fashion magazine.

Iggy announced that the food was ready and set it on the table, and we sat down in the same place we sat last night, which meant I was by Iggy again.

I filled up my plate and dove in, keeping my mouth occupied.

"Did I hear you were wearing a mini skirt?" Iggy asked with a smirk on his face.

I blushed and tried not to choke on my food.

"Yeah. So?" I asked, getting a little bit defensive.

Iggy shrugged and took a bite of food.

I grabbed my bacon and took a big bite out of it, trying to ignore the fact that Iggy was sitting right next to me.

"So how's the food?"

I really wished he would stop talking to me. It would make ignoring him a whole lot easier.

"It's good. But tell me, why does a blind guy cook our breakfast?"

"Max burns water."

Max heard that apparently, because she broke off her conversation with Fang to glare at Iggy, practically boring holes into his head.

I ate in silence for a few more minuets, glad that Iggy hadn't started talking to me again.

I spoke too soon. As soon as I took a huge bite of scrambled eggs, Iggy whispered something to me.

"So why did you kiss me back in the forest last night?"

I, of course, started choking like crazy, with everyone staring at me.

I grabbed my orange juice and chugged it down, my face flaming red from lack of air and embarrassment.

"Do you need CPR? Or like, the Heimlich maneuver?" Nudge asked as I was still choking.

I shook my head and drank some more orange juice, and eventually I stopped coughing.

"What was that about?" Max asked, concern on her face.

"Nothing. I just swallowed wrong, that's all. Now, may I be done?"

I didn't mean to sound so rude, but I was going to die of embarrassment or something if I didn't get out of there soon.

"Of course Kay. Just put your dishes in the sink."

Dr. Martinez nodded at me, a smile plastered on her face.

I smiled back and dumped the rest of my food down the trash and set my dishes in the sink and walked calmly past them, then out the front door.

I just walked in the forest for a little bit, not really in the mood to fly, and I found myself retracing the steps I had taken last night while I was chasing Iggy.

I found the spot where I had tackled him and noticed a slight impressing in the dirt, and one next to it.

I sat down in front of it and just stared at it, unsure why I had come here, of all places.

"That's actually a good question, Iggy." I muttered, looking at the impressions.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there, just thinking and staring at the impression, but apparently it was long enough for them to come looking for me.

Iggy found me, apparently having the feeling I would be back here for some reason.

He yelled out that he had found me, and told the others I was okay, then went and sat down next to me.

He didn't say anything for a while; we just sat there, in silence.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Can you forgive me?"

I nodded, then realized he couldn't see it.

"Yeah." I said, realizing that my voice was kind of broken, like I had been crying.

"Now you don't have to answer me if you don't want to, but I would really like to know the answer."

I said nothing for a while, trying to come up wit ha response.

"It was just the heat of the moment." I finally said, even though the real answer was I didn't know.

Iggy nodded, looking straight ahead.

And then I must have broke down or something, because the next thing I knew, I was sobbing.

And it wasn't little quiet tears, it was gut wrenching tears that just came out of nowhere, and you could her them clearly.

Iggy's face softened and he gently put his arms around me, and I leaned into him, crying like no tomorrow.

He hushed me and wiped the tears from my face, and eventually I stopped and just sat there, not willing to move.

Iggy lifted my chin and looked me in the eyes, and I wasn't sure how he did it, but he did, and his eyes were soft, asking.

I wasn't sure what the answer to his question was exactly, but I whispered yes, and he leaned in a kissed me softly, gently.

And this time I didn't hesitate to kiss him back.

I'm sure I looked horrible, my face all puffy from crying and my eyes red, and my hair kind of frazzled.

But I didn't really care then as I closed my eyes, realizing that I was in bliss.

We broke apart after a few minuets and Iggy was happy, and so I was I, and still confused, but a little bit less confused.

We sat there for a while, Iggy holding me gently in his arms, when I spoke up.

"We should probably get back."

Iggy nodded and stood up, then held out his hand and pulled me up, smiling.

We walked back slowly, not saying anything, but it was a comfortable silence, not filled with tension.

Before we walked back inside I fixed myself and my hair.

I walked inside then, and everyone looked up at me, probably wondering where I had been for the last few hours or so.

"Hey. Sorry about that, I just needed some time to think."

I was glad my voice came out smooth and there wasn't a trace I had been crying.

Everyone just nodded, but I could sense the relief that I was safe.

Everyone looked to Iggy, and he must have felt it.

"So was in the forest. Just sitting, doing nothing else."

Which was true. Max smiled at me, and so did the others.

"I'm glad you're safe, Kay. Everyone was getting a little bit worried."

Dr. Martinez came over and hugged me, and I hugged her back.

It was then that I realized I had a family, and that they all cared about me.

It almost made me tear up again. Almost.

I sat down on a couch next to Ella, who smiled at me and we were quiet for a bit, happy.

"Oh! I almost forgot. I found someone who could help, Iggy. He's an old friend of mine since collage. Very smart and nice. He said he would love to help, and he can see you three weeks and a day from now. It may seem like a long time, but I'm sure it will pass quickly."

Iggy brightened up, and so did everyone else.

"What's she talking about?" I asked Ella.

Dr. Martinez heard me and smiled. "Iggy's going to get his eyesight back."

I couldn't stop the grin that spread across my face.

"Really? That's great, Iggy."

So I knew we were staying here for at least three weeks. Sounded like fun.

"However, because you'll be staying here so long, I've also enrolled all of you for school so nobody gets suspicious."

My smile immediately disappeared.

"School? Like, the place where you learn things?" Gazzy asked, sounding bored.

Dr. Martinez nodded, and I though Nudge was going to explode fro excitement.

"Oh my gosh. This is so cool! We're going to get our schedules and everything and we'll be able to make new friends and learn stuff! Isn't this great Max? When do we start? I hope we start soon, like really soon. I can't wait to go!"

Max didn't look too happy, but I knew she couldn't say no to her mom.

"You start tomorrow." Dr. Martinez said, beaming at Nudge.

"But… tomorrow's Wednesday."

I said, realizing this meant we were going to start in the middle of the week.

Dr. Martinez nodded.

"I know, but they said we needed to put you guys in school as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Ella's school wasn't accepting any more students so late in the year, so we had to send you to a private school. Nudge, you'll be going to the public middle school though, and Angel and Gazzy will be going to the public elementary school."

I processed this, realizing that meant there was going to be a lot more stuck up rich kids and most likely uniforms.

"Sounds… great." I said, trying to come up with a word.

Dr. Martinez nodded, and told us our uniforms should arrive after dinner.

Max and I were less than enthusiastic with the whole idea of going to school, but we agreed to it anyways.

**SAFFIRA'S POV:**

I woke up in a tree, cuddled up to Chase, and I almost had a panic attack.

Instead, I fell out of the tree, somehow grabbing Chase as I went down and bringing him down with me.

Well, if he wasn't awake, he was now, as we fell to the ground, flailing our arms and trying to slow the fall.

There wasn't enough room to spread our wings, so we ended up hitting the ground.

I landed first, Chase right behind me.

I groaned dazed, but surprisingly not hurt.

"What the heck was that for? Shaking me gently would have been enough."

Chase sat up and glared at me, though a smile threatened to show on his lips.

"Yeah, whatever. Well, now that we're wide awake, we should get going, you know, back home."

Chase rolled his eyes then jumped up and held his hand out for me and I took it, pulling myself up.

I suddenly remembered the questions he had asked last night and blushed as I dusted myself off.

"Let's go."

I started walking, trying to find a clearing, when we ended up at a road, in front of cops.

They look startled as two kids just came out of the woods, looking horribly beat up and battered, but well rested and moving.

One of them snapped into action.

"What are you two doing here, and why were you in the forest?"

**So, what did you guys think? This one took a little bit longer to type, and I'm still not sure I like how it's written, so I might come back and edit a few things later, though. You'll see it posted in bold if I do. Thanks for reading! Don't forget to R&R!**


End file.
